Dust and Stone
by epichlexi
Summary: AU, angsty fic.. because it just needed to be explored. Helen's injuries after the Old City Sanctuary explodes are beyond help, and she and Nikola share a few last moments. Completely stand alone, not related to my Teslen verse or any other fics. R&R please.


"Helen!" Nikola shifted a little to gently move closer to her, one hand carefully on her arm, the other combing through her hair. "Stay awake, stay with me Helen.."

"Nikola, it has to be this way.. if I'm dead, SCIU will leave the Sanctuary alone... Hollow Earth, the abnormals.."

Nikola shook his head, watching her and glancing up anxiously, wishing the others would come back. They needed to get her help. "Helen, I'm going to get you out of here, you need to get to a hospital.."

"Nikola... you're going to have to find another date to the prom."

One hand moved to takes hers as he shook his head, thinking back over the evening and how things had unfolded to this level of hell.

_"Where's Caleb?"_

_"So, I noticed all the residents are gone -"_

_"CALEB! Is he close?"_

_"He's on his way and he's not alone."_

_"And Henry?"_

_"Securing the last sector..."_

_Helen nodded. Her eyes locked on his with a mix of feelings she couldn't put to words and he couldn't begin to label. "Go, Nikola..." Then, in a last moment of impulse, she stepped in and grabbed on to him, pulling him to her and kissed him quickly, but decisively._

_He was stunned. He didn't even have time to react before she spoke again, her eyes and tone urgent. "Go, quickly!"_

_He'd seen the computer set up to self-destruct, the habitats empty, even in the SHU, Henry's shielding jacket ("FOSSS" - meh, and __**he**__ was bad with names?) ready to go. He'd put the pieces together- he was a genius afterall._

_But there was nothing he could do but cooperate. There was no answer but to go. She trusted Henry and he'd have to as well. _

_And so he had gone. Found Henry in the corridor and grabbed hold of the HAP to lead him away from what was coming, just as the main lab exploded behind them. They'd cleared far enough to escape injury, but were still close enough to the force of the blast to be knocked off their feet. _

_The look they exchanged said it all. Henry was shocked... his lifelong home in ruins, with the only mother he'd ever known trapped inside. Perhaps he'd lost faith in his own work on the jacket. _

Nikola hadn't let himself think too far into his own feelings at that moment. The sheer gravity of everything that had just taken place was infiltrated by Will and Kate's approach after witnessing the explosion a way up the road where they had been attempting to bring the rescued Homeland abnormals back.

Soon, Will and Kate had gone to take the abnormals to a safe house. Henry found the Big Guy, beaten but alive. He'd regained consciousness while Caleb and his goons were in the Sanctuary. He'd managed to start on his way back toward the Homeland to warn Will, but just as he caught sight of the truck containg Will, Abby, Kate and the Hollow Earth abnormals, the explosion had occured. Henry had found him alive and left with him to join Will and Kate in finding a safe house for the abnormals.

Now left alone, Nikola had returned to the site of the explosion. What had once been the Old City Sanctuary was now little more than a heap of rubble. Ash, broken stone, fragments of what had been ... labs, habitats, furniture... mostly dust and smoke.

Where was she? He wandered, searching. It might have been moments or hours. Usually he had such an incredibly accurate accounting of time, even while asleep or distracted. But right now he was in shock and only desperately focused on finding her.

Then there had been a sound, movement. He'd rushed over and vamped to amplify his own strength to move the debris away. There she was, battered and bruised, the shield jacket still over one arm and draped around her.

"Helen... dear God... " His tone had been barely over a whisper as he knelt beside her. She was conscious, but her breathing was somewhat uneven and he could see she was badly injured.

"n-Nikola.. the others.."

"They're all right. Will and Kate took the abnormals to a safe house. Henry took the Big Guy, too, he's gonna be okay.." Helen did look somewhat relieved at the news that her old friend was infact still alive.

"I was afraid he.. "

"Shh. It's alright. Everyone is okay, and you will be too."

"No, Nikola.. " She looked over at him with a serious look.

"This.. is how it has to be, then so be it. The Sanctuary.. is most important.. "

Nikola shook his head. "No, no don't you let go. Stay with me, Helen."

"Nikola... Hollow Earth, Will needs to know... there's a tunnel near here.. " Nikola shook his head. "You can tell him this yourself after we get you to some medical attention."

"Nikola! If I'm alive and they know about it.. 113 years went to waste.." Her tone was firm, her mind was made up. Nikola remembered now that she was now even older than she had been before. It was mind boggling, even for him, that this woman who had been 161 years old when she revamped him in Egypt just a year ago was now over 270.

"Helen don't let go on me... we can get you help. Use a made up name, I'll... I'll build a memory eraser, remember Men in Black?"

Helen smirked a little despite the pain. "You're in denial, Nikola." Her breathing was becoming more labored.

"Don't.. don't you dare leave me Helen.. " Everything else he wanted to say fell short in his mind. His hold on her tightened a little as if he could keep her here if he held her close enough.

Everything else seemed hollow. There were no words that could adequately describe where he was. How did you say goodbye to someone you had loved for two lifetimes? "Helen I... "

Bu she interupted him. "Focus, Nikola.. " Her voice was weak, almost a whisper now. "Will... Hollow Earth. I've been working.. the directions, in Henry's tablet.. the new Sanctuary."

A new Sanctuary? In Hollow Earth? But he didn't question it. Just nodded that he understood.

"You're going to have to find another date to the prom."

"Helen-" he started again, but she exhaled and relaxed as her body fell into a limp state. He knew she was going, there was nothing more he could do to stop it.

"... I love you. I always have. It was always true, Helen... dear God, it was always true.." He spoke softly as he drew her close to him.

With a slight shift, she fell fully limp in his arms and he knew at that moment she was truly gone.

Never in his 156 years had he ever felt so alone or cursed his own immortality so deeply. As the last vampire, he had always known he would likely one day be the last of the Five. But none of it mattered for as many days as Helen Magnus happened to be there. Even when they had not spoken for over six decades, he had always known she was still out there. Still protecting the vulnerable and studying the miraculous. Still fighting for the best for both humans and abnormals. Still ... her. So perfectly and gracefully and agelessly her.

_do you remember the leaves of autumn that time we met at Oxford? There was that crimson dress you were wearing..._

A crimson dress marked his earliest, clearest image of her. A failed experiment and a sacrifice for the greater good would be his last and his darkest.

A hand stroked over her hair, and then he gently pulled her lifeless body close to him, holding her in silence and shock, until finally a silent sob racked the shoulders of the last vampire. This new and greatest loss might be insurmountable.

The Sanctuary. Nothing else mattered, as she had told him. Her sacrifice, the past 113 years, could not go to waste. He would find Will, pass on the information. It was the only decent thing to do. He owed her that much. The decisions to come after would be his own, but tonight, he owed a debt he had to pay, to the only woman he truly loved.


End file.
